Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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975. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to outline his Department's position regarding the collection and usage of student levies by higher educational institutions. [51690/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and are responsible for their own day-to-day management and operational affairs, including the collection and usage of student levies.

Under Section 40(1) of the Universities Act, 1997, and Section 24(1) of the Technological Universities Act, 2018, HEIs have scope to charge additional fees to students for a variety of purposes, including events and services. Such levies have typically been charged in relation to specific expenses, such as the development of new sports facilities or to cover the costs associated with providing ongoing access to such facilities.

The term ‘levy’ is used by some HEIs to describe a number of charges made to students. For example, in respect of graduation costs, garda vetting costs etc. It is generally defined as referring to charges which have been agreed with the student body to cover the costs associated with sports clubs, student societies, the Students’ Union/representative body(s).

The levy may vary by institution. Students are notified by their institution of the relevant levy, with details of how the levy will be used available on each institution’s website.

The Deputy may be aware that the Higher Education Authority (HEA) recently published a report on student services expenditure and student levies. Details of this report can be found at: hea.ie/resources/publications/